Replies

1. 
   DanH | Nov 14, 2008 04:01am | #1

   A lot cleaner, and more rugged than you'd think.

   The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable. --John Kenneth Galbraith
1. 
   jarhead2 | Nov 14, 2008 06:34am | #2

   I would have to agree.

   While I personally like gas........ We have one of those electric smooth top's in our kitchen at work in the plant. Like 60+ people use this every day 24/7/365 and have had no problems in eight years. We cook on it at least twice a day. Nothing broken and cleans very easily. 

    

    

    

   “Some people wonder all their lives if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem.”                Reagan....

   Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor. -Truman Capote

2. 
   popawheelie | Nov 14, 2008 07:20am | #3

   Covienence is the key. I don't like them because they heat up slower and electric is already slow compared to gas.

   I'm biased. I grew up using gas and will instal gas when I get a chance.

   It cleans up easier and looks better. But does it cook better? I don't think so.

   There's something about an open flame that I like. Closer to a camp fire?

   Boy, I haven't been camping in a LONG time!

1. 
   McDesign | Nov 14, 2008 01:27pm | #4

   Hey - there's an idea!  Combine a smooth-top electric range with one of the electric simulated fireplace log things.

   It could look like gas, but not scare people with an actual open flame, and be easy to clean.

   Hmmmmm.

   Forrest - cookin' with gas

3. 
   Matt | Nov 14, 2008 02:15pm | #5

   We put coil top ranges in our least expensive houses.  In those homes, upgrading to a smooth top (radiant) is one of the most popular upgrades.  I've never heard of a smooth top having the glass broken. 

1. 
   cmiltier | Nov 14, 2008 02:17pm | #6

   "I've never heard of a smooth top having the glass broken"

    

   Try cooking with a pressure cooker! OOPS!

1. 
   Matt | Nov 14, 2008 03:00pm | #7

   Pressure cookers are a no-no with radiant ranges?  Why is that? 

2. 
   RobWes | Nov 14, 2008 04:36pm | #9

   You really should get out more often. I have replaced one glass top in 18 years. Simple job really and only had to replace the glass, not the radiant unit below. I don't know how it broke (I never asked) but abuse comes to mind. It was a DACOR unit.

   In my own home we use a pressure cooker 2X a month or so. It's placed on  Jenn Air glass radiant cooktop and never has a problem.

    

3. 
   gfretwell | Nov 14, 2008 09:53pm | #12

   "Pressure cooker"
   I do it all the time.That actually works better than a lot of pans since the bottom is thick enough to stay flat on the glass.

4. 
   YesMaam27577 | Nov 14, 2008 09:58pm | #13

   >>"Try cooking with a pressure cooker! OOPS!"Or, try cooking with any large stockpots, and try cooking something that takes a very long time to cook.We have (had?) a smooth-top electric range that was in the house when we bought it a few years ago. We have hated it ever since, but it's difficult to justify almost two grand to get the gas range we really want.Two nights ago, my wife and I were "putting up" collards. Two large stockpots, both with probably four or five gallons of boiling liquid -- both going for about two hours. Then "POP, CRACKLE, POP!" The top broke, and without any impact -- broke just from the heat and the weight.We can now justify that new gas range, because replacing the glass top on the electric one was estimated to be close to $700.The gas company's contractor should be here any minute to start the process of running the gas line. And tomorrow I'll probably pick up the new range.

   Politics is the antithesis of problem solving.

1. 
   Matt | Nov 20, 2008 02:16pm | #14

   >> Two nights ago, my wife and I were "putting up" collards. <<  That brought to mind 2 things:  1) I thought - he must be a southern boy...  and 2) More of a man than me ;-)  I was one of those little boys who's mother made me sit at the dinner table for hrs until I ate my "greens" - or until I could slip them to the dog or until mom finally had pity on my poor soul.  ;-)  Apparently fear is a factor. ;-)

   Southern boy.. Then I looked at your profile... "outside Raleigh NC"  - which is where I live.  Howdy neighbor!  I'm over near 1010 Rd and Penny Rd.  Apex address although I don't live too near Apex.  How about you?

   BTW - IMO 2 pots that big might have been a little trying on any mid to low quality range...  What kind of range did you end up getting?  

1. 
   YesMaam27577 | Nov 21, 2008 12:15am | #17

   I'm in Smithfield.But I'm not truly "southern by God".I spent my first 45 years in northern Ohio, then followed the best woman I ever met as she moved "back home". Been here ever since, wondering why I didn't move a couple of decades earlier.

   Politics is the antithesis of problem solving.

2. 
   Matt | Nov 21, 2008 02:43am | #18

   Smithfield is truely a small southern town.  It's worlds away from the east coast Megalopolis.

    

4. 
   USAnigel | Nov 14, 2008 03:04pm | #8

   The smooth tops are easy clean, look better, and today's models heats quickly. We use a Jennaire with down draft and really like it.

   Her indoors approves too, which is a major thumbs up!

5. 
   deadmanmike | Nov 14, 2008 07:59pm | #10

   I Can not find a electric coil type...

   Check your local mobile home park. :)

   Seriously though, ceramic tops are much tougher than you think. They do heat up slower than gas, but the ease of cleanup is more than worth it for me personally.

6. 
   CAGIV | Nov 14, 2008 08:45pm | #11

   If you insisit on an electric coil burner with a down-draft you can purchase a seperate snorkel style down-draft exhaust fan, just be prepared to open your wallet a bit.

   

7. 
   frenchy | Nov 20, 2008 04:37pm | #15

   I choose glass top for my wife's sake, she works a 8 hour day and comes home to cook.  If it saves her 4 nano seconds a century  on clean up it's money well spent.

     Also my wife has cooked on electric all of her life she's extremely slow to adapt so by using electric I avoid about a zillion burned meals. Plus I save all that wasted food.. Thus glass top electric is cheaper than anything else..

1. 
   Sbds | Nov 20, 2008 05:33pm | #16

   A coworkers glass top broke. The carp hanging crown molding in his kitchen fell back off the second step of the ladder and landed on it. The owner of the company had to buy him a new stove. The glass top was no longer made.